It's Been Awhile
by LancerBabe
Summary: Chandler left four years ago and has now returned. What could possibly happen?


It's Been Awhile. By: Jessica Okay people, this is my first fanfic. Well, actually, it's not, this is the first one I decided to type up and send in, it's more like my fifth fic. This is mainly about Monica and Chandler, although it isn't really. You'll see what I'm talking about when you read it. I would love to get feedback to help me with future fics. Let the story begin! Enjoy! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ He stood outside Central Perk watching his five old friends through the window. All five of them were there, drinking coffee and talking. He had finally come back after three years. It was the year 2000; he had left in mid 1996 to find himself, to do some soul searching. He hadn't said goodbye or given them an address. All he had done was leave a silly little note for the five of them and left. He had given no details, just said that he was leaving and didn't know when, if at all, he would be back. They were probably so angry with him for just leaving like that, but he decided to go into the coffeehouse anyway. He slipped in quietly so he wasn't noticed. He discreetly walked to the counter, watching his friends talking. Joey was siting in the chair and Ross, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe were squished on the couch. 'At least none of them are at that table by the couch.' He thought as he ordered a coffee. He slowly made his way around the back of the coffeehouse and sat on the love seat by the window so he couldn't be seen. He sat there and listened to his friends taking. "Did anyone realize that it's been exactly four years today since Chandler left?" Phoebe asked. Chandler froze. They were talking about him. The all still remembered him, even though he left without saying goodbye. "I miss him so much!" whined Joey. "I miss all his smart-ass comments and all his jokes and I miss him being my roommate." "We all miss him Joey." Said Rachel with tears in her eyes. "I don't." Replied Monica, in a tone that startled Chandler. "The jerk left three years ago and hasn't even called since. Why should we miss him?" "You don't mean that, do you Monica?" asked Ross. "No. That's how I felt after he first left, but now I totally miss him. I miss the way he could always make me laugh when I was depressed and the way he could always comfort me when I was sad and he way I could tell him everything and he wouldn't think I was crazy." Chandler sat on the couch for an hour listening to his friends rambling on about him and how much they missed him. He glanced at his watch and realized that he needed to go and get ready for and interview. He walked around to the back and went to the bathroom. When he was leaving the bathroom he ran into someone coming it the opposite direction. "Sorry." He grunted as he got up and helped the person up. He gasped when he looked at her and saw that it was Monica. She looked up at him and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my God! Chandler! You came back!" She flung her arms around his neck and squeezed him as though she would never see him again. Suddenly she pulled away and pushed him hard into the wall. "Where the hell were you?" she asked angrily as she pushed him again and began beating on him with her fists. "Monica." Chandler said softly, grabbing both her hands. "Shhh Monica. You're gonna make a scene." She collapsed onto his chest crying. He just held her tightly as she cried into his chest, his interview totally forgotten. Eventually she calmed down and looked up at him. "God, we missed you so much." Monica said, with tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I missed you too honey, I missed you too." Chandler said soothingly while he stroked her hair. She pulled away after a bit to get a good took at him. "My God, you look great!" She exclaimed. And he really did, not that he didn't before. He had lost weight, buffed up, gotten a great tan, his hair was she and spiked, with blond tips. "My how you've changed! I love your hair." "Thanks. You look great too." He said, looking her over, his eyes lingering on he left hand, which was ringless he noted with relief. "You grew out your hair. It looks great." "Thank you. I notice that you don't have a wedding band. Didn't find the right woman yet?" "No, not yet. You don't have a ring either. I thought for sure that Richard would have proposed." "We broke up about three months after you left. He didn't want kids and I do. And, actually, I haven't been on a date in about two and a half years."  
  
"Really? I haven't been on a date since I left. I haven't really had the time. I was traveling the world, doing some, y'know, soul searching." "You haven't been on a date in over four years?" "Don't sound so surprised. Why haven't you been on a date in two and a half years?" "Like I could get a guy to go out with me." "Why not? Who wouldn't want to go out with you? You're beautiful, smart, funny, kind, sweet, and I could go on for years. Any guy would be lucky to have you." "I guess you're right. How did you get to be so thoughtful? Did those four years away help?" "Four years traveling the world will do wonders." "That appears to be true. You look GREAT!" "Thank you again. You've gotten even more beautiful." Monica was looking deeply into Chandler's beautiful blue eyes and he was gazing back. She was still in his arms, her arms loosely around his neck. He held he tightly around the waist. Monica wanted to kiss him so bad. When he left she had spent an entire week in her room crying. She didn't even cry that much when she broke up with Richard and she knew the reason- she never loved Richard. Only after Chandler had left had she realized that she only loved Chandler, had loved him since the day she had met him. Even though he had left them, only leaving a silly little note saying he was leaving, she still loved him with all her heart. The only date she went on while Chandler was gone had proved that and she had prayed every day that he would return.  
  
Chandler's heart was beating fast. Holding Monica in his arms brought back all the feelings in a rush like a waterfall, washing over him suddenly after four years. He loved Monica and nothing would ever change that. He had left four years ago when Monica started dating Richard. He was reluctant to return, because he was sure that she had gotten married, or at least engaged, but her she was, in his arms, no ring on her finger and not having dated anyone in two and a half years. He wanted to kiss her so bat that it was killing him, so he decided to do something about it. H leaned in and covered Monica's mouth with his own in and extremely passionate kiss. Monica moaned into his mouth as he slipped his tongue into her mouth and ran his fingers up and down her back. She ran her hands through his hair, never wanting to stop. "Monica," Chandler said after a minute or two, "I am so, so, so, so sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. I am so sorry. I should probably go. I am so sorry." "Chandler! I don't care that you kissed me. In fact, I really, really liked it." Monica said, blushing and wrapping her arms around his neck again. "Really?" Chandler asked, placing his hands at her waist again. "Yes, really." Chandler smiled and leaned down to kiss her again. After a minute she pulled away. "Um, Chandler, I should probably go back out. I've been away for, like, half an hour. Somebody might come and, y'know, see us kissing. Let's go show our friends what I found." "Are you sure they'll be happy to see me? I mean, you beat me up. They won't do that, will they?" "No, they won't. I only did that because, one, you surprised me by showing up here, and two, you left four years ago and weren't here to comfort me when I broke up with Richard. Oh, there is a three but." "And what would that three be?" "I had a huge crush on you when you left." Monica replied softly. "I had a huge crush on you when I left too." "Than why did you leave?" "Because you were happy with him! I didn't want to say anything. And whenever I got up the nerve to, you were with another guy- Paul, Ethan, Richard. I never had a chance." "Well, I'm giving you a chance right now." "Um, okay. Well, Monica, um, I know I was a jerk for leaving you guys four years ago, but I was wondering if you would like to go out on a date with me tonight." "Chandler, I would love too." Chandler smiled and kissed Monica again. "But right now lets go show my friends what I found." "You make me sound like a five hundred dollar bill or something." "Well, I feel like I've found five hundred dollars. Let's go." Chandler quietly followed Monica to the orange couch he missed so much while he was gone. Joey looked up when he heard Monica return and gasped. He quickly jumped up, ran over to Chandler and grabbed him into a big hug. All the others quickly followed suit. After all this Chandler sat down on and Monica sat down next to him. He put his arm around her, something that went unnoticed by the others. "So Chandler, where have you been these past four years?" Ross asked. "I went all over the world! Europe, Asia, South America! I went to France, Germany, Italy, London, all over I learned ten new languages, although I'm not very good at them, but still, I know them. What have you five been up to?" "Ross got married two more times, divorced two more times, and got a job at NYU." Joey stated matter-of-factly. "Two more? To whom?" "Some British chick named Emily and Rachel." Monica said. "Rachel? How did you manage that man?" "We were drunk and in Las Vegas. It just happened." "What's been going on with the rest of you?" "Ross and I broke up a year after you left, I got a job at Bloomingdale's, then an even better job at Ralph Lauren." "I gave birth to my birth to my brother's triplets, got fired, got a cop boyfriend, than dumped him when he shot a bird. I named one of the triplets Chandler, but he turned out to be a girl, but Frank and Alice kept her named Chandler." "Um, oh, that's, um, great! What have you been up to Joe?" "Well, I was killed off Days, was in a weird play in 1997, got my big break in 1999, which was a total flop, and now I'm in a new TV show." "Wow Joe, you've been busy. Monica?" "Um, yeah, not much. I got a job at Allasondro's, all my co-workers hate me, and I haven't had a date since Rachel made me go out with some male nurse, who was a huge jerk." "So you guys have been pretty busy." "Yeah, but not as busy as you." Ross said. "Got a wife or fiancée or girlfriend from your travels?" "Nope, haven't been on a date in over four years." "Wow, that' even longer that Monica!" Joey exclaimed. "Thanks a lot Joey." Monica said. "But for your information, I have a date tonight." "Really? So all it took was Chandler to come back for you to get a date? Who is it?" Rachel asked nosily. Monica mumbled something that only Chandler understood because he knew who her date was. "What was that Mon?" Ross asked. "Are you ashamed of you date?" Phoebe added. "NO!" Monica yelled truthfully, looking up at Chandler. "I just don't think you guys would approve of who I'm going out with." "Why wouldn't we?" Joey asked. "Because who I'm going out with is pretty weird." "What do you mean weird?" Chandler asked playfully. "I don't mean the person is weird. Well, he might be, but that's beside the point. You guys would think that it's weird that I'm going out with him." "Who is it?" Rachel asked again. "It's, um, Chandler." Monica said, coughing at the end. "WHAT?!" Ross exclaimed. "Go Chandler!" Joey said happily. "Wow, I didn't expect that." Rachel said, stunned. "HA! I always knew you two were lobsters!" Phoebe said, doing the claws. "I thought that was Ross and Rachel." Joey said. "They aren't anymore." Phoebe stated. "Ok, well, I thought you all would react like Ross." Monica said, looking at him. "We're all happy for you." Rachel said, pointing to herself, Joey and Phoebe. "I know you were totally depressed when he left. I had a feeling that feelings were deeper than friendship." "Yeah man, I knew that you had feelings for her by the way you acted when she was with a new boyfriend. And I KNOW that you left because she was with Richard." Joey said. "Is that true Chandler?" Monica asked, surprised. "Yeah." Chandler replied quietly. "But I didn't lie to you earlier. I did do a lot of soul searching." "I didn't think that you lied to me Chandler. I was just surprised that Richard was one of the reasons you left." "Well, it's true. I was glad that you were happy, I just wasn't glad that you weren't happy with me." "Aww! That is so sweet!" Monica said, kissing Chandler. "You guys, I don't wanna see that!" Ross exclaimed. "Sorry." Monica and Chandler both mumbled. "So Chandler, what made you come back?" Phoebe asked. "Um, well, I really missed you five, so I moved back here. I had spent four years traveling the world, I needed to settle down again. I was kind of reluctant to come back because I thought that Monica must have gotten married, but I guess I was wrong." Chandler said, smiling at Monica. She smiled back sweetly. "Aww, honey, I wouldn't marry anyone el. if you weren't there!" Monica covered up quickly. "Really?" Chandler asked, knowing what Monica was going to say. "Yes, really." She said, wrapping her arms around Chandler's waist and kissing his cheek. "I wouldn't either." He responded, pulling her onto his lap. "Aren't you two just the cutest?" Rachel asked. "I'm afraid we just might be." Monica said. The talked for hours, catching up, until Monica and Chandler had to get ready for their date. The girls went to Monica and Rachel's and the guys went to Chandler's hotel room to get them each ready.  
  
"I think you should wear the purple tie!" Joey said. "I think you should wear the blood red tie!" Ross interjected. "I think I'll wear the black suit, red shirt, and black tie, thank you very much." Chandler replied, going to get dressed.  
  
"Please Monica, wear the slutty red dress!" Rachel said. "No, you should wear the conservative blue one!" Phoebe said. "Y'know, I think I'll wear the black one." Monica said, holding up a knee- length tube-top dress.  
  
"You hurt her, man, and I will hunt you down and kill you. Got it?" Ross threatened before Chandler left. "Yeah, Ross, I got it." Chandler replied, trying to stifle a laugh. "I would never, ever hurt Monica though, man." "Good. Now have fun and don't do anything stupid."  
  
"Monica, Chandler's here!" Phoebe yelled toward the bathroom. "Let him in. I'll be right out." Monica yelled back. Phoebe opened the door for Chandler, who held a bouquet of two dozen red roses for Monica. "You look great Chandler!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Thanks Pheebs. Is Monica ready?" Chandler asked. He was so relieved that the gang had welcomed him back with open arms and that they had nothing against him and Monica dating. "Yes, she is." Monica said, coming from the bathroom. "Wow! You look great!" Chandler said, giving Monica the roses and a soft kiss. "You don't look to bad yourself Mr. Bing." Monica responded, taking Chandler's arm and walking with him to the door. "You two have fun! Phoebe yelled after them, putting the flowers Monica left out into a vase.  
  
Chandler took Monica to a romantic restaurant and dancing. They went for a long, peaceful walk in Central Park. Monica shivered slightly next to Chandler, which he felt. He took off his suit jacket and draped it around Monica, which she gratefully took. "Thank you Chandler." She smiled up at him sweetly. "Anything for you, babe!" Chandler replied, returning her smile. They walked around for hours talking about the four years Chandler had been away, going into detail about everything they had talked bout earlier.  
  
They arrived back at Monica's around midnight, knowing that the other four were either in her or Joey's apartments, waiting for them. They talked for a little while, waiting to see if anyone would come out. After a minute Chandler gathered Monica into his arms and gave her an extremely passionate kiss. They heard a couple gasps from Joey's apartment and stopped. "Well, I guess I should go." Chandler said. "Yeah." Monica began, "unless you'd like to come in?" "Monica, I'm not that kinda girl!" Chandler said jokingly. "No, I ment to watch a movie you dork!" "I would love to!" Chandler said, walking though the open apartment door and followed Monica to the couch. Monica put "Sleepless in Seattle" in and sat down next to Chandler on the couch. He pulled her onto his lap and gave her a kiss. "Do we have to watch some chick flick?" He whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. "Yes, we do." She replied, snuggling down closer o him to watch the movie. "Okay." He replied, wrapping her in his warm embrace. About halfway through the movie Monica had fallen asleep and Chandler was about to. He closed his eyes and hugged Monica, thinking about how he was finally happy after four years. THE END 


End file.
